1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to portable cooking apparatus and more particularly to a portable cooker adapted to cook using either solar energy or a conventional source of heat.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Solar cookers having a housing construction with solar energy reflectors and means for transferring the solar energy to an oven area are known and have been described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,025,851; 3,106,201; 3,156,234; 3,174,476; 3,236,227; 3,301,171; and 4,077,391. A further improvement on the solar cookers described in the mentioned patents is to be found in applicant's copending application Ser. No. 944,511, filed Sept. 21, 1978, and entitled "Portable Solar Cooker".
One of the shortcomings of the portable solar cookers described in the mentioned references is that in the absence of solar energy, they have no utility for cooking purposes. In particular, none of the portable solar cookers described in the mentioned references are constructed in such a manner as to allow the use of conventional sources of heat such as canned heat, gas-fired lantern heat, charcoal fires, and the like, for heating the oven.
The prior art is recognized as teaching the employment of a swingable bottom housing and the use of a permanent, auxiliary, electric resistance heater built into the portable solar cooker construction described in that patent as a means for providing the oven with heat in the absence of solar energy. However, this type of construction obviously depends upon either an available battery or other electric power source, such as a household electric outlet, in the absence of solar energy.
With the foregoing discussion of the prior art in mind, the object of the present invention is to provide an improved portable solar cooker convertible to utilization of sources of energy other than solar energy.